Bell ringer



Oct- 3, 1933- A. l.. BRIDGHAM BELL RINGER Filed OCT.. 30, 1931 4. L Mmm Patented Oct. 3, 1933 UNITED STATES 1,929,197 BELL RINGER Arthur L. Brdgham, Boston, j i Application October V30, 1931. Serial No. 572,001

' s claims. (Cl. 121-2) 'I 'he invention relates to an improvement in bell ringers of'a type essentiallyadapted to beused on a locomotive.

`The essential object of the invention is to provide a reliable and economicalI bell ringer by which the bell maybe rung with a steady and moderate stroke. Y

The invention canbest be seen and understood by reference to the drawing in which-.- 'Figure 1 isa cross section of. a bell equipped with `the bell Yringing mechanism embodying the inventiomand g Fig. `2-is a cross' section in enlarged detail of the plunger section of the 'mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Referring to the drawing: 1.. j l'represents the bell xed to a yoke 2 from the head of whichthe bell hangs suspended. The bell is provided with afrustroconical top extension 3 which fits within a socket 4 in the head of the yoke; The top extension 3 is drawn todit tight within Vits socket and thebell' fastened to the yoke, by means of a bolt 5v extending through Fthe top lof the bell, thence upward through its top extension 3 with projection above the exten- .sion.and above the yoke. .At its lower end the 4boltis provided withra flange forming head 6 which bears against the interior top wall of theV bell; Arranged upon the upper threaded end. of the bolt, .projecting above the top extension 3 and yoke as aforesai'dVis a lnut 7 which bears against the top surface of vthe yoke, a washer 8 being interposed between the nut and the yoke.

With the parts thus arranged on tightening the.

nut the top extension onr the bell will be drawn -to t tight within its socket and the bell-fixedly 'secured to the yoke. f 'Y At its lowerV end inside the chamber of the bell thebolt 5 is providedwith a threaded extension 9 and. on this extensionwith top edge bearing .against the flanged head 6. of the bolt isa cylinder'llfwhichv extends downward well=into the charnberfof the bell. The lower end .12; of this lcylinder is made` cleft, and: projecting laterally from the respective clefts are ears 13 to which is pivoted a lever 14 by a pin.l5.` The lever .comprises' arms 16and 17, respectively; Of these the arm Y16 forms the tongue of the bell and` bears on its end a ballstriker 18 whichjgives weight tothe arm. The arm 1'7 ofthe lever Yis the one to which force is applied forturning the lever` and- `therebysoundin'g the bell. This arm'occupies an Vangular relation to lthe arm 16 and. extends laterally into the cleft bottom Yend of the cylinder where it can be engaged by a plunger or piston 20 working within the cylinder. The arm- 17 .is maintained inrposition to be engaged bythe plungerby the weighted arm 16. The arm 16 will normally hang pendant inside the chamber of vthe-bellfrom the point of its pivotal support and from its pendant position is turned to strike 2f; the-bell. The relative positions of the parts are such that whether the weighted arm 16 is occupying a normal pendant position or a striking position, it will ineither case maintain the arm 17 within the cleft bottom end of the cylinder in position to be engaged by the plunger.

2l represents the body of the plunger and 22 its head. The head is slightly larger diametrically than the body and the cylinder is corre- .70

spondingly bored in vorder that both the head and body ofthe plunger may have asliding lit-within the cylinder.` This `vlit, however, is not so snug as to prevent entering air under pressure from passing through the joint between the plunger and the internal wallof the cylinder, as will later be f The tongue is operated to strike the bell as the plunger is moved downward in. the cylinder, it being the lower end of the plungerfextending outside the-cylinder which engages the arm 1'7 of the 1ever of1which the tongue forms a part. Y

Y 4 The shoulder or edge V23 on the cylinder at th junction between its respective bores will form a stop for the head of the plunger as the plunger is moved downward, but the arrangement of the parts isv such thatthe head will never engage this stop so as to' prevent the effective downward movement of the plunger for operating the tongue and striking the bell. 24 representsv the 90 top surface ofthe plunger head and 25 its under surface. The top surface 24 is much largerin area thanA the under surface 25. Above'the head 'of the plunger A,there 'is provided within the cylinder a pressure chamber`26 and this chamber is 95 extended upward even into the Abody of the screw a. chamber of relatively large capacity. When `.the plunger israised so that its head isrspaced abovev thegedgeV 23 yon the cylinder a pressure 100 chamber 2'1- will be'v formed below the head of the r plunger, the bottom surface. 25 of thehead forming the upper edge Wall'of this chamber and the edge 23 on the cylinder forming the bottom edgewall of the chamber. 'I'he head of the 105 plunger 'is preferably provided with an annular incision28 openingl into the joint between the head and the cylinder inorder to facilitate the passage of pressure through this joint.-v The body of the plunger is incised to form an annular 1:10

itated'positionof the: tongue.

air pocket between the body of the Yplunger and the cylinder 31 forming the top edge wall of this pocket and 32 its bottom edgewall. Extended within the body of the plunger is an ex-y haust passage 33. Inlet is had to this passage from the pressure chamber 27 by way of an inlet exhaust port 35 arranged just below the head of the plunger. Outlet is had from the passage 33 to thev exterior-surface of .the body of the plunger by way of an outlet exhaust port 36 vinwardly removed from the bottom end of the plunger so that the port 36 will normally'be.

closed by the cylinder and will be open to the atmosphere only when the plunger has been moved down a determinate distance within the cylinder, or, in other words, so far that the port 36 will lie beyond the bottom edge ofthe cylinder. Air under pressure is admitted toI f the plunger for operating it by way of an inlet pipe 37 'and thence by a port 3t through the: sidev ot thevcylinder. Thek arrangement of thisport with relation to the annularA pockety 30 formed in the body of the plunger is such that air will be direeted through the port into the pocket when the plunger ls-foecupyng normal* position and? which position corresponds' with the normal gravlVlnasufl'ning that the plunger has been moved downwardly to bring' the striker in engagement with the bell, the exhaust port 36'wil1lbe below the open end of the cylinder and the pressure of the within the chamber 26' will be comparatively low-.inasmuch as the exhaust port 3'6 is open directly to the atmosphere'. `Thestriker then moves towardsits' gravitated' position and in so doing tends to move the plungerupwardly. Whenthe `plungerl'ias moved upwardly to a certain position the exhaust port 36 will be above the bottom or open' end ofthe cylinder and when in such position substantially' no'iluid will be exhausted.V When in this position the shoulder 3-1 lwill `be below the inlet port 38t and while the-latter is substantially closed by thel body o1" the plunger a slightof" air pressure supplied through the inlet port 38'w-ill' pass' upwardly lbetween the plunger and -tl'iecylincler wall into the' chamber Z'and will buildup a pressure in the latter. The duid aider-pressure' inv the chamber 27 at this f time will pass to some extent between the head ofthe plunger and the cylinder-'wail' and pass intov the chamber 26.A However, due to the relatively small passage between. the head of the 'plunger and the cylinder; wall, thel pressure at this time will. be greaterv in the chamber 27 than in. the chamber 26 and. con.- sequently will tend' toA cause thexplungerv to rise. However, asA the. plunger continues to rise the pressure in` Vtlrechamber 26 will gradually mcrease. When the plunger has. moved upwardlyto aposition to` bring the passage .30v in registry'V with the inlet port 38, the` rate of How of fluid from the inlet port38 to the chamber A275 will increase inasmuch as the length o1' the .66 restricted passage between the body of the plunger and the cylinder will' be less and the' entire pressure of the fluid.' will be supplied thereto through the annular passage 3U at. all points around the surfacev oftheY plunger. Finally theefl'ecti-ve. pressure withinV the chamber 26 will becomegreater than that in the chamber' 27. and consequently the plunger will move vdownward and movethe striker outwardly toward ythe bell. Inringthe downward' movement Yof the plunger there will bel a slight: leakage. between the plunger and the wall of the cylinder when the top of the annular chamber 30 is above the inlet port 38 but this tends to supply additional fluid under pressure to the chamber 26. However, when the plunger has Vmoved downwardly to a point such that the shoulder 31 is below the inlet port 38 the amount of iluid under pressure passing from the inlet port 38 into the chamber 27 vand consequently into the chamber 26 will be greatly diminishedN .Blight further downward v movement of the plunger causes the exhaust port 36 to be moved to a point below the bottom of the cylinder thereby permitting the pressure in the chamber 27 to be suddenly exhausted. Inasmuch as the exhaust of pressure from the chamber 26 is not as; rapid, Athe downward speed of the plunger will be suddenly increased causing the striker vto engage the bell and asit does so the pressure in the chamber 26 becomes diminished so as to permit the plunger to start upwardly when the starts to move to its gravitated position. lThe body o( thezplungermay be made to have a rather snug sliding fit within the cylinder.,

In order',.hawever, that thepressure may readily pass intoI the pressure chamber 26 lying above thel head of the plunger byy passage through the joint between the head of the plunger and the cylindenthe htv of the headv within the cylinder should notbe an especiallyvsnug; lt. In other words, the nt of the hea-d of the plunger within the cylinder should. not be so close a lit as that of the body of the plunger within` the cylinder. Attention. is also directed. to the. fact that when the exhaust is Vopen to the atmosphere the immediate inlet to the exhaust lies below the head.

of the plunger where the exhaust of pressure is most needed; y f l But. little air is used in the operation of the bell.y ringer- Iny practice air under a pressure of from 90' to 130 pounds'isv employed.Y Very little -air willl be lost even when the exhaust is open which is only for short intervals of time.. Pressure' of air will at. all times be maintained within 4the. pressure chamber 26- above vthe plunger inasmunir as only such amount of air' will be allowed to-exhaust imm this chamber as.. will permit of the returnof the. tongue. to its normal gravitated position. f Y The bell. ringer operatesv with a very moderate stroke of from 50` to 60 strokes a minute.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim and. desire tosecure by Letters Patent of `the United States:-

1. Inl a. striker mechanism for avbell having a striker. movable into: vand, out of engagement with; the bell, the combination therewith of mechanism for moving the striker including a body providing. a cylinder'having.` anv enlarged portion, saidv body having. an inlet passage communicating with; the cylinder fox: supplying fluid underV pressure,.a plunger having aibody portion movable in saidI cylinder and'. anenlarged head movable in .the enlarged portion ofthe cylinder, said plunger vportion of the cylinder. Y

Y 2. In a striker mechanism for a bell having a Vstriker'movable into and out of engagement with the bell, the combination therewithof mechanism yfor' movingthe striker including a body v'providing aV cylinder having an enlarged portion, said body having an inlet passage communicating with the cylinder for supplying fluid under pressure, a plunger having a body portion movable in said cylinder and an enlarged head movable in theY enlarged Vportion .of the cylinder, said plunger having an annular groove which as said plunger is moved is brought into and out of registry with said inlet passage, said plunger and body having means adapted to cooperate when said plunger has moved to a predetermined position to exhaust uid under pressure from said enlarged portion of the cylinder.

3. In a striker mechanism for a bell having a striker movable into and out of engagement with the bell, the combination therewith of mechanism for moving the striker including a body providing a cylinder having an enlarged portion, said body having an inlet passage communicating with the cylinder for supplying fluid under pressure, a plunger having a body portion movable in said cylinder and an enlarged head movable in the enlarged portion of the cylinder, said plunger having an annular groove which as said plunger is moved is brought into and out of regisf try Withfsaid inlet passage, said plunger and body having means adapted to cooperate when said plunger has moved to a predetermined position to exhaust fluid under pressure from said enlarged portion of the cylinder, said means including alpassage in the body of said plunger adapted to communicate at one end with the enlarged portion of said cylinder and adapted to communicate at its other end with the atmosphere when `said plunger has moved to said predetermined position.

ARTHUR L. BRIDGHAM. 

